1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for taking up and discharging liquid and, more particularly, to an apparatus which is adapted to take up a variety of liquid specimens from corresponding vessels and subsequently discharge the liquid specimens into a separate vessel in order to mix the liquids and dilute the mixture when so desired.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is frequently necessary in the analysis of serum or the like to sample specified quantities of various different liquids which are then mixed and diluted, when necessary. The conventional apparatus for this purpose, such as a diluting machine or autopipette, possesses an uptake and discharge function. In most of these known arrangements the uptake and discharge function is an unsophisticated one, in which one liquid specimen is drawn from its vessel and then immediately discharged into the awaiting separate vessel. This means that a discharge operation must follow each single uptake operation, and that this uptake-discharge cycle must be repeated a plurality of times in order to sample, mix and dilute a plurality of liquid specimens, as in the analysis of serum mentioned above. With the conventional apparatus, in other words, the liquids must be taken up and discharged one at a time through a troublesome procedure which is prone to error and likely to result in a low degree of accuracy.